Fairplay, CO

 Howdy, folks!

  Hope you all have not gotten bored with our Colorado adventures just yet...we have just a few more to share before we move on with our posts. This adventure takes us to Fairplay, CO.

  Fairplay is a smaller town in which you can feel the vibe of the past mining days before. The drive to our destination was absolutely spectacular with mountains, pastures with livestock, and so forth but the town itself was a rather quick visit. Now, for those of us that are not aware, Fairplay is widely known for the hit animated show South Park which has been around for a long time. It has a few small restaurants and some decent souvenir/gift shops but there were a few stores that either were plainly closed or kept odd hours. Some of the locals were very friendly and others gave us the feeling that we were being watched closely while we browsed around. In 1 of those gift stores, we stepped down into an area to look at some South Park memorabilia and were quickly told that we are suppose to pay a fee to be in that area...that gesture pretty much wrapped up our Fairplay trip. Please allow us to add a picture below of the famous lake that is featured in the South Park television show...we spotted anglers doing some trout fishing at the time...

Final Thoughts: If you are a fan of the South Park show, we do recommend that you visit Fairplay at least once and catch your own vibe from it; if not, you may want to keep cruising to your next adventure. 

Doc Holliday's Grave at Glenwood Springs

 "I'm your Huckleberry", if you don't know what movie this quote is from, we may not be friends. Just kidding...BUT in all seriousness, while we knew about Doc Holliday, the movie, "Tombstone" brought him as well as the Earp brothers to life in a whole other way for most folks. Or so it  seems. This stop in Glenwood Springs, and the trip through Glenwood Canyon was one of Ahnah's favorite parts. She, as well as Brad have a deep love for Doc Holliday and knowing he was buried here, we had to detour to visit and pay our respects to the man himself. 

To be completely honest, there were lots of photos taken on the trip through the gorge, but they do NOT do it justice. You simply cannot capture the depth of God's handiwork in pictures. You are at the bottom of the canyon itself and at times you are driving past the Colorado River. It was one of the most awe inspiring things Ahnah has ever seen. (Probably why there weren't too many great pictures....put the phone down and enjoy the ride sometimes right?)

We actually spent the night at a hotel and woke up bright and early to hit the trail (literally) to Doc Hollywood's grave at the historic Linwood Cemetary. We spent some time actually reading the extremely informative plaque at the beginning of the trailhead. 

 They do give a warning at the beginning of the path that the trail is a half mile hike. Which we were thinking, ok, what's the big deal? We walk that allllll the time. We got this.....

Oh how mistaken we were!!!! The distance was not an issue, it was the altitude and uphill climb that took it's toll. I mean, there are warnings all over the path to not leave food and keep dogs on their leashes because of the possibility of BEARS!! This definitely kept us very aware of our surroundings. To show you how high we actually were, check this out!

Yes, yes that's a baseball diamond. We were way up there. Now, about halfway through the uphill battle, Brad had those of us around him laughing so hard because he stopped, looked at us and loudly proclaimed, "Doc Holliday was a jerk for having people carry him all the way up here to be buried." (Disclaimer: This has been tastefully edited to not offend our readers in anyway. 😂)

Now, in all seriousness. The following photo explains in a little more depth that it is actually a "Potter's Field" so our hero may be buried in a different location than the actual memorial headstone is at. 

While a great many of the famous quotes from the iconic movie were running through our heads, it was a very solemn moment and one that will not likely be forgotten for a great many years. And yes, while this is a review blog, there will be no final thoughts or 5-star reviews on the final resting place of  a great man who was a better friend to Wyatt Earp than most of us will ever have the experience of understanding in this life. 

"There's no normal life, Wyatt. It's just life. Get on with it." 

Farewell until the next tale our friends. 

Peppino's

 Friends,

  This adventure will take us to another pizza parlor in Frisco, CO: Peppino's. We hold Frisco dear to our hearts because it is a nice, cozy town cut out of the beautiful mountains surrounding it. They are known for a skiing destination, we saw boats enjoying the marina, and most of the shopping spots at least seem to be privately owned, not big chains. 

  Peppino's is a smaller restaurant but cozy and with a nice staff. They have board games available to play while you wait on your meal and they do not just offer pizza. However, being big pizza fans, we had to try it out and see for ourselves. We ordered the: Jimmy The Greek. This pizza is basically a version of a Mediterranean/Greek pizza and was very delicious. It was a big pizza and we got to carry some back to the home base to enjoy later. 

Final Thoughts: We loved spending time in Frisco and would highly recommend trying out Peppino's if you find yourself in that area. Our only regret is we did not have enough time to come back and try more on the menu. 

Estes Park

 Welcome to another addition of our Colorado blog series. We are very excited to be bringing you to the beautiful Estes Park. 

 

  With elevations over 7,000 feet, this place has a lot of beauty to offer high up on those mountains. Entering into Estes Park, we stopped to take a picture(ABOVE) and fed the chipmunks as well as spotted a unique blue bird that we could not identify. We did have a little bit of a time frame to be in as we found it important to take a tour of the Stanley Hotel. For those of us that do not know the background of this hotel, it is the place that inspired Stephen King to write his novel The Shining back in the 1970s. Even if you are not a horror fan like we are, the hotel still has a lot of fun history to know about and is worth seeing at least once. Skeptic or enthusiast, there are definitely some strange vibes going on in this place as far as the paranormal goes and...we may have actually caught something on our camera while we were there. 

  As we do not wish to give the Stanley Hotel all of the credit, let us move on to the shopping strip that we explored after our tour. Not only did the strip have nice shops to go in, the outdoor scenery was beautiful as well. We had a nice day exploring a few different souvenir shops, clothing boutiques, taffy making, and a responsible lunch of ice cream as we strolled the strip and dipped our toes into the small river running straight through the town. When it came time for us to carry on to another adventure and leave out of Estes Park, our exit was accompanied by a family herd of elk disrupting traffic...which we did not mind at all. 

Final Thoughts: We gave this blog post a good try at a review and we probably still did not include every single thing we wanted to while being in Estes Park. Meaning, the beauty is stunning and is a must see for anyone looking to explore Colorado. We may even be brave enough to say that this is 1 of our favorite spots in Colorado. 

Cafe Paprika

 Friends,

   Welcome back to another addition of our Colorado trip. Today we will be focusing on a rather unique restaurant by the name of Cafe Paprika located in Aurora, CO. 

  This establishment is a smaller but cozy place to enjoy a meal. The owner will serve you himself and is very friendly as he will carry on a conversation and get to know you a little. They cater to mostly a Greek/African cuisine and the fresh food is well worth the wait. As you are waiting, might as well sit back and enjoy some of the tasty mint tea that they will pour for you at your table. 

  Ahnah enjoyed: Falafel while Brad enjoyed: Ziti Chicken. Both of these dishes were superb in flavor and we even carried back some to the home base to enjoy later. 

Final Thoughts: If you are in the mood to try something a little different than the usual, please try this place out. They have our full support and we plan on going back again when we are in the area. 

Safeway

 Good morning ladies and gentlemen, we are finally done with Downtown Denver and the many exciting places we explored whilst on our quest for adventure. Now on to what some, possibly most, will not find that exciting-the grocery store! Woohoo!! Well....its a "Woohoo" for Ahnah. Having been a couponer (at times EXTREME couponer) and a thrifty shopper most of her adult life, she was chomping at the bits to see what odds and ends differed from the South. While we did visit two grocery chains on our trip, this post will be about Safeway.

We visited the location in Thornton, CO as it was close to where we were staying. We did decide to cook dinner a few nights while we were there, and when you are in Colorado you absolutely must stay hydrated!! We went through several cases of water while we were visiting. So, this was the perfect opportunity to try out grocery shopping in another state. 

Like most of the larger stores these days they did have a cafe area with a Starbucks which was visited for a caffeine fix of course. The first barista wasn't that great but the second one made up for it. Actually, we would have purchased some of their cute souvenir mugs if there had been more luggage space. 😂

The location we went to was very clean, organized, and well stocked. We are very picky about our groceries and both noted that the store even smelled clean. Which is not always the case in chain stores. Having been told over and over that there is a major difference in price point between home and Colorado, Ahnah was pleasantly surprised to see that everything was only a few cents more. Depending on what you go for that is! She's more of a generic shopper with the exception of a few things. In her mind she had built it up that it was going to be a $1-$2 difference on everything so it was a sigh of relief to see it wasn't that much of a difference. Too bad the same cannot be said about gas prices. 😬

The only complaint to be had was that no matter what time of day we stopped in, there was always a wait. They either didn't have the self-checkout lanes open or not enough cashiers. But to be fair, that's every store, in every city these days it seems. Sigh...

Safeway=⭐⭐⭐⭐ Simply because a manager can always jump on a register, or start bagging or something just to get your paying customers out quickly. Stay tuned ya'll!! We have some super exciting reviews coming up soon! Shall I tease with one word?? Is anyone familiar with the word Estes? 🤔

Appaloosa Grill

 Friends,

  Welcome to our final entry for downtown Denver and the 16th Street Mall district. Thank you so much for hanging in there with us as we will begin focusing on other parts of Colorado as well as other assorted reviews coming up.

  This adventure brings us to Appaloosa Grill. This restaurant was in a smaller, cozy corner that we passed by a few times before we made time to visit. We were there in the middle of the day and in the middle of the week so we can not fairly comment on the night life and the live music that was advertised. We can only comment on the quality of food and service that we experienced which we will now do in detail. 

  Starting off, we noticed a different style of tipping system that we did not agree with at all. If we remember correctly, they automatically add 20% to the bill which is shared amongst employees. We do not agree with this because...what if the service is not good and you are forced to tip anyway??? Please keep in mind, this is coming from a couple that is known to double a bill if the service is exceptional. We can assure you, this service was far from exceptional. 

  Our host/waiter seemed to be the manager or person in charge at the time, we could not tell. He stayed occupied with different things around the restaurant/bar and when he did decide to carry on a dialogue with us, he seemed a little condescending which is uncalled for when you have paying customers...especially ones that do blogs! Ahnah had the Tempura Avocado Chicken Burger:this should have been a rather easy chicken burger to accomplish but instead, for $15, we got no real flavor behind it as well as burnt and dried out chicken. Brad had the Flat Top Elk Burger:this was the best part of the whole visit as it turned out to be quite a yummy burger with excellent ingredients.

Final Thoughts: This establishment needs to make some adjustments or they will lose some money, if they haven't already. Unless we are in the area and have an appetite for a good elk burger that we can't get somewhere else, we will NOT be going back. 

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory

 Ok guys, trying to wrap up our 16th Street Mall adventure with a few last posts that we cannot neglect to mention, one of those being the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. After walking past and smelling the enticing aromas that floated out of their several locations we passed by....Ahnah couldn't take it anymore and stopped in. 

Think of a smaller scale Willy Wonka's and you would be close to what you experience when you walk in the door, (minus the Oompa-Loompa's of course.) there is literally candy everywhere. To be honest, it's actually overwhelming to the senses. It was almost a little stressful! Too many options, which isn't a bad thing when it comes to chocolate. Now, Ahnah will tell you she isn't a huge chocolate person, which is true....unless there is also fruit involved. Her eyes immediately fell upon the lemon and orange rind dipped in dark chocolate and it was over. Purchases were being made. Brad......Brad on the other hand is a recovering chocoholic. We say recovering since he has cutback due to an increase of kidney stones. Do we still keep chocolate on hand? Of course! It's just not eaten at the pace it used to be around here. 😢

While the shop itself was VERY nice...the employee...not so much. She had seemed friendly enough to the previous customer but seemed very rushed with us. She was polite but not what I would call "friendly". In fact, we would have purchased a few more items if she hadn't made Ahnah feel like she didn't have enough time. We're willing to chalk it up to the fact that we went slightly after they had opened and she did have some decadent delights to whip up before they got busy. 

We purchased a small amount of fudge, as well as an assortment of truffles. Ahnah wanted to purchase her chocolate covered peels and the cashier said she would throw some in for free as we spent a pretty penny....BUT we don't consider one being thrown in the box as "some". Oh well, chalk one up for experience. 

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory= ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The chocolate was very high quality and you could tell it was made fresh in house and not shipped in. Brad really liked the Bailey's Irish Cream truffle he had as well as the fudge. Honestly, every truffle we bought was excellent. The reason they are being given 4 stars is the customer service. I don't think we expect too much but a little niceness goes a long way for us. 

Sock Em' Sock Emporium

 Friends,

  Welcome back as we get ready to wrap up our journey in downtown Denver. We do hope we have not bored you by now with focusing on the downtown Denver part of Colorado so much, there was just a lot to explore there. Our promises to you that we are getting ready to explore much more soon.  

  As for now, allow us to focus on an establishment by the name of: Sock Em' Sock Emporium located in the 16th Street Mall district. Being fair, Ahnah is not much of a sock girl but Brad had already started wearing "weird socks"(Pink Floyd socks to be exact) before we ever got on the plane headed to Colorado. So with that being said, once we stumbled across this store, it was as if the rays of light shined down from Heaven upon this store for Brad and a new addiction was about to be born. It also did not help matters any that Brad's birthday was approaching soon so Ahnah was a total sweetheart and indulged with unique socks as a birthday wish. 

  There was only one employee and we had the store to ourselves at that particular time. The young gentleman was very friendly and helpful; he engaged in intelligent dialogue with us and made us feel like real people, not just another customer. He also made sure we were aware of the certain sales going on and where the "dirty socks" were located out of plain site from customers that may get offended. Needless to say, this place got our business and we took great advantage of the sales going on with Brad's sock drawer now overflowing. To give a couple of examples of some favorites purchased: "Live your life as if they will ban your book" and "The universe is made up of protons, neutrons, electrons and morons". 

Final Thoughts: Another rarity=this establishment gets 100% good reviews from us. Staff is friendly and the prices are right for the quality of product. This place is a MUST for "weird sock" lovers. 

Brooklyn's Finest Pizza

   Howdy, friends! We have a couple of more mentions on downtown Denver, if ya'll care to explore with us some more. We have so many wonderful things to share with you that we hope you will be forgiving if we get a couple of things out of order. We find it exciting to carry you along with our journeys, if you will allow us. 

  So, while walking the streets of downtown Denver, got to have something to eat with all those footsteps, right? A little background, we LOVE pizza! Blame it all on our love for Italian food(amongst other cuisines, of course) or the fact that we both grew up watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, pizza is not something we go without for very long. It is true that we have leaned towards the Chicago style pizza many times but, we really are not too picky when it comes to a nice slice of pie. 

  This brings our journey to Brooklyn's Finest Pizza. Although this means more of the New York style pizza, these guys have a wide variety of dishes to choose from. Unfortunately, Brad could not pass up the variety of single slices to choose from so much that he stopped at this establishment 3 times before leaving Colorado...addiction, perhaps? However, Ahnah decided to be more open to try different dishes and really enjoyed the Gabilla's Knish. For those of us that are curious...this dish is a seasoned mashed potato with some good spicy brown mustard on it. 

  This place stayed busy and was a rather small establishment so we chose to eat out on the patio. The food was yummy and the staff was very friendly. The employees seemed to enjoy working there and were laid back but, maybe a little too laid back. Being that we consider ourselves friendly and laid back, we welcome this behavior but this will bring us to the 1 negative thing to comment about on this restaurant: employees were cursing in front of customers. Now, we curse ourselves at times but the problem is children were in and out of here and they do not need to be hearing that. We have both worked in jobs where we are expected to be very professional and represent our companies in front of clients so we expect the same when visiting other establishments...profanity in front of customers is not a professional practice. 

Final Thoughts: If you are a pizza/Italian fan, please try this place out and get ready for some great food and friendly service...just try to tune your ears out of things you hear in case the staff is a little too laid back again. We definitely plan to go back on our next visit to Denver.